Various stakeholders have unanimously called on government to ban political party rallies during elections among others to reduce the heightened political tension in the country and intolerance as well to recall or petition Members of Parliament (MPs) who abandon their constituents.
They made the clarion call at the Town Hall Meeting organized by the Western Region Office of the National Commission for Democracy (NCD) on Wednesday 23rd September 2020 at the Kossoh Town Community Center, East of Freetown.
The call was made by teachers, youths, women, the elderly, physically-challenged, religious leaders and representatives of National Elections Watch and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).
The theme for the event was ‘The Relationship Between Parliamentarians and Citizens in Promoting Democratic Good Governance in Sierra Leone.’
Welcoming the 80 participants, NCD Commissioner for the Western Region, Mr. Benjamin Macfoy articulated that the event is another segment of NCD activities, that the day is for stakeholders to discuss the roles and responsibilities of MPs, underscored that people are now aware of their democratic and political rights and informed all that the program is live on Victory Radio 88.1 at Jui.
The former Commissioner of the NCD Western Region, Mrs. Georgette de’ Marke, who chaired the program, disclosed that some of the functions of MPs include representing their people, making laws and performing oversight functions of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and furthered that during election campaign periods, MPs make a lot of promises to their people whose expectations are very high in addition to the many misconceptions about the roles and responsibilities of MPs and called on MPs to be truthful to their constituents.
She continued that it is not the responsibility of MPs to pay the school or college fees of the children of their constituents, give them money for funerals, marriages and other public functions, that MPs must organize quarterly meetings with their constituents to know their concerns as well as inform them about laws enacted in parliament and appealed to participants to be attentive and ask questions for the development of the country.
Rev. Gibrilla Kargbo, Director of Communications and External Relations, NCD underscored the timeliness of the event which he reiterated is apt, that there is partnership between MPs and their constituents to among others promote good governance, accountability, transparency, decentralization, gender parity, uphold human rights and responsibilities, service delivery and the conduct of periodic elections.
He furthered that the relationship between MPs and their constituents according to the constitution, also includes the provision of social amenities through the established authority and civic responsibility for which MPs must be accountability to their constituents reiterating that MPs are servants of the people.
According to Rev. Kargbo, laws made by MPs must represent the wishes and aspirations of their constituents but stressed that people pay more attention to the non-statutory functions of MPs than the statutory ones and that most people misunderstand the roles and responsibilities of MPs quoting Act No. 6 of the 1991 Constituency and affirmed that citizens’ loyalty to the state must be sacrosanct.
He went on to state that MPs must work with their constituents to address corruption, injustice, hate speech, that MPs should be evaluated based on their statutory functions, that buying of votes should be discouraged, that MPs should have offices in their constituencies, sign non-violent pacts with their constituents and develop strategic plans for their constituencies all aimed at fostering democratic good governance.
Mr. Habib Sesay, a legal practitioner outlined the qualifications of an MP including must be a citizen of Sierra Leone, must be 21 years of age and above, must be eligible to vote and be voted for, must be literate to enact bills into law, debate and pass budgets, source funding for projects, provide amenities for their constituents, perform oversight functions of MDAs but observed that politics has destroyed the country.
He also observed that MPs are divided along party lines, that they must seek the welfare of all their constituents irrespective of political affiliation, that MPs must be accessible but observed that MPs are too politically aligned to their parties, also called on MPs to live with their people, that MPs are not accountable, that MPs are entitled to pension after serving five years in Parliament and admonished the people to vote on policies and not sentiments.
The MP for Constituency 012, Kenema District, Hon. Momoh Bockarie disclosed that for long time there has been a missing link about their functions in addition to the fact that the expectations of the people are high, that the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for MPs that is no longer forthcoming was Le62 million quarterly, that some MPs lost their seats in the 2018 elections because of the CDF, that Sierra Leone does not have career MPs, that Parliament is the training ground for MPs and that they would receive their pensions till death.
He pointed that the frequent change of MPs is costing government and donors huge sums to pay pensions and train them, the reason the United Nations Development Program refused to train the current MPs recalling that 80% of former MPs were not reelected.
He also urged the people to followup on the activities of Parliament, that they are taking their responsibilities seriously, that the public criticized them for requesting for improved conditions of service, appealed for improved conditions of service as they are overburdened and over-stressed, also lamented that most of the issues their constituents bring to them are personal and appealed for MPs to be capacitated with staff and other logistics.
Among others, participants also called for the implementation of the recommendations of the Constitutional Review Committee and that participants must pass the knowledge gained to others.
Earlier, the representative of the Headman of Kossoh Town, Mr. Robert Browne welcomed all to the event and stressed the importance of the event for the people to highlight issues affecting them and their community.
Highlights of the program were the plenary and question and answer sessions and singing of the National Pledge while the vote of thanks was rendered by Mr. David Williams, the NCD Senior Programs Officer for the Western Region.
